A/N: So in this story we will have a bit of a time reversal/ AU. So think that episode where Dean went into the future, like that but back in time
A/N: I own nothing, but my own mistakes
Suggested listening: Struggle Jennings and Jelly-Roll: can't go home
/ I gotta sit back and try to take it in/
Sam looked over at his brother, who was not really his brother, as he sat at the little table in the living room. Green eyes scanning a newspaper, just what Dean was looking for Sam had no clue. The silence didn't really bother him, gave him a chance to think; to try and take in that his brother was back and at the same...he wasn't. This Dean was different, on levels Sam couldn't even imagine. He had seen things, done things; not that his brother had told him any of this. He was after all Dean, no matter what time frame he came from. No, Sam could see it in the green eyes, the way he sat coiled and ready to spring to action. Rolling his eyes to the sky Sam wondered just what was to be done about Dean, was he stuck here forever? Not that Sam minded, his Dean was gone had been for a long time and no matter how different this Dean was; it was just nice to have his big brother back.
Of course there was another problem at hand, one in the form of a petite blonde. Caroline was going to implode when she found out and Dean, well his brother was in for more shocks to the system. Other than finding out he had been dead for two years, Dean was going to see the girl he had loved for ages married and extremely happy with someone else. As for Caroline, well she was't going to be happy to see the guy that crushed her heart and left her to go off and die.
/ Some mistakes I never make again/
Caroline sat at her desk in the back office of the bar, this was her place to hide when the ol' man was away. She misses him when he is gone, but duty as club boss always seemed to call. Heaving a petulant sigh, Caroline tried to get some work done, but all the bills were paid, all the orders for beer, food and whine are put in. There was the ABC license, but that wasn't up for review until next month and Lexi was going to handle that because he knew someone on the inside. She hated not having anything to do, made her feel useless and quite frankly a bit like a pampered pet. Of course her beloved pack of Ulfhednar would have something to say to that, as would Sansa, but she couldn't help feeling this way from time to time.
When she started to feel really guilty about the pit of self-pity she was falling into her phone rang and gave her a reprieve, "Thank the gods!" She muttered as she snatched her phone off the desk and flipped it open.
"Hello, Caroline Forbes speaking."
"Caroline..."
Well that was a voice she hadn't heard for a while, "What's up Sammy?"
He chuckled at the use of his nickname, he still hated it, but didn't mind that she called him that. He never did.
"So I have a situation I need help with." Ever willing to help Sam out of jam she told him to come by the bar.
"I'm in the back, but Sansa or Lexi will let me know when you get here." She said a smile plastered on her face, sue her she hasn't Sam in like six months. Plus, she was bored as hell and needed the distraction.
"Alright, I'll see you in five."
With that he ended the call, flipping her phone shut she took a look at herself. She hadn't been expecting visitors and the bar didn't open until three, so she was dressed comfortably. In her red flannel, ripped jeans and Tims; at least she didn't look like a slob.
It took less than five to get there, they were already on the road to the bar when he made the call. After Dean had died he decided to make his home here in Louisiana, this place had enough paranormal activity to keep him in business for decades. Plus, he liked being near Caroline; they were currently working on getting Bobby down here. Sam felt a twinge of guilt as they pulled into the parking lot, he still hadn't told Dean about Caroline's marital status; nor had he told Caroline about Dean being alive.
Dean of course knew that Caroline was in for a shock, Sam had to tell Dean about how long he had been gone. He wonders if that's why his brother was silent, was he trying to absorb the fact that he hadn't been resurrected like he had been in his timeline? Or was there more going on that Dean wasn't telling him, truth be told both were a possibility. Pulling into a spot near the entrance Sam saw Lexi standing in the doorway, probably waiting for them. Sam was the first to see the look on the Ulfhednar face, he was not in anyway happy to see the oldest Winchester brother. Try as he might Sam couldn't really blame him, the Ulfhednar were fiercely loyal to their Volva and gyðja and Sam was breaking all kinds of rules by omitting the truth.
"Hey Le..." Sam was cut off by the low growl, a reminder that he had crossed the line and his gyðja would be hearing of this. Sam nodded he understood what he had done here, every action has a consequence. Looking at them with a curled lip, Lexi huffed and turned to walk into the building.
"What was that about? Thought y'all were friends?" Dean asked confusion clouding his face.
"We are, but I fucked up by not telling anyone that you weren't dead."
Look on Dean's face would have been funny if Sam wasn't already feeling the heat of his actions, with the same look as Lexi; Dean stormed ahead. Well, he thought to himself, no turning back now. With a sigh Sam followed his brother into the bar, it was like walking into the night. The room was lit with the kind of soft lights one finds in an upscale bar, twinkling like star light. Purple, black and blood red was the color scheme; there is actually a really good story behind that. Purple was for the humans, black for the demons and blood read for the Ulfhednar and werewolves. This wasn't exactly a vampire friendly bar, the few that were allowed to be in here had proven their loyalty to the volva. The gyðja had only one rule, if his volva didn't approve of you then you had no business here.
Sam has to wonder if that would apply to him now, he is hoping she'll see his true intent and just give him a warning or a verbal lashing. Guess he'll have to wait and see, Sam knew the procedure when bringing new people in. Lexi would direct them to the purple toned waiting area, it was away from the main part of the bar and under a flight of stairs, where the volva would come and inspect everyone and decide whether or not to help. It would be awesome to have the back of both the volva and the gyðja, but Sam was realistic. Once Lexi left them alone, Sam took advantage of the moment alone and filled his brother in on all that he could. Explaining the role what Lexi was and how the volva would come out and talk to them, he also told him what a gyðja was. And while Sam didn't tell him about the trouble he might be in, he did think it was good idea to at least tell Dean that much.
Dean kept silient throughout the description and he stayed that way until they heard voices in the hallway by the stairs. That's when the fidgeting started, his boot began tapping out a rhythm on the floor, his hand scrubbed up and down the tops of his jeans. Sam had to say he was a bit confused by the display, sure he knew that Dean was nervous; but Sam had only seen his brother like this maybe a handful of time. Sam shot Dean the "hey what's up?" look, but he doesn't get the chance to answer because Caroline walks into the alcove Lexi and Sansa right on her heels. If the vampire and Ulfhednar didn't have fast reflexes they would have run right into her, Sam looked up into Caroline's face. She has always been expressive, well she could hide her emotions very well when she chose to, it's just when she has been shocked that she chad a hard time controlling her face. Right now he could tell exactly what she was thinking and none of it involved very nice language.
"I thought you were dead?" Her tone wasn't very nice, but he saw that look in her eye; she was happy Dean was alive. Sam though that this may have been a very crappy start to all this, but surely with all the surprises (mostly) out of they way they could get on with things. As usually Sam would be wrong, just once it be really nice to be right about this stuff.
"I thought you were dead." And if that wasn't a bombshell Sam didn't know what was.
"Lexi, Sansa could you give us a moment."
"Volva,"
With an irritated huff, Caroline cut them off. "Oh for the love of...look its Sam and Dean no need for the formalities and I doubt they would dare lay a hand on me. I don't need a babysitter!" With more than a few irritated and muffled sounds Caroline succeed in pushing out her bodyguards and then glared at them, hands on her hips until they walked over to the bar. With a nod she turned back to him and Dean and sat down in the over stuffed chair across from the equally overstuffed couch they were sitting on.
Sam new she was brimming with questions, he also knew she would keep her council until she had gathered all of her ducks into rows.
"Are you surprised that I am here?" Dean asks, his voice...not quite a quiver, but there was a little misstep that only the ones that knew Dean oh so well would catch. Caroline nodded, and crossed her legs. Dean nodded back, not really surprised.
"How are you alive?" He could see that question threw Caroline, hell it threw him to and he really wanted to know why Dean kept saying that.
"Where, more like when, the time I come from... you died Caroline... you,"
Caroline cut him off at that, "Until we no more you can't tell me anything else, the butterfly effect could be at play here."
She stops for a moment to look at the ground, unconsciously chewing on her bottom lip.
"I'll help, I don't need to know more from you two at this point. Just...you can go back to your house or you can stay here. This is going to take me a while."
Sam nodded and urged Dean to get up, he would take his brother back to his house, that way he could go into detail about everything.
"I'll take Dean home, just give me a call when your ready. We'll show ourselves out."
Caroline nodded, already lost in thought, Sam led the way out the bar. He could feel Lexi and Sansa's eyes boring into them as they left.
Caroline gathered all the necessary items for the ritual bath, choosing the right herbs and crystals for what she was about to do while Lexi and Sansa got her room ready. By the time Caroline was done cleansing, her room would be filled with candles their light shining bright and a fire would be crackling in the fireplace. While the enormous claw bathtub was filled with water, she placed the crystals around the tub. Clear quartz to clear the mind of negativity, black tourmaline to cleanse and purify, hematite to ground and balance energies. Next she sprinkled lavender oil for relaxation, mugwort to help with trance work, cinnamon for protection.
This was going to be a hell of a ride, she thought as the tub slowly filled up. She wasn't even sure where it would go, she just had to trust that Freya would lead her where she was supposed to go. And if there is one thing she knows for certain, trust is a main component in trance work. Shutting off the water, Caroline disrobed and slipped into the steaming water. Instantly she felt her body relax, slowly she inched further down until her nose was just above the water.
"Caroline was dead in your time?"
Sam had wanted to ask the question since he let them back into the house, but Dean looked a little whoozy and Sam figured it was probably better to wait until after dinner. The thing is Sam cannot cook for shit, so the next best thing to a home cooked meal was Momma Ruby's Cajun Cuisine; bonus points they delivered. After the delivery girl, who was quite pretty if he did say so himself, left and the table set they sat down to eat.
Sam dug into his food while Dean mostly pushed his around on his plate, lost in contemplation; Sam wished he could read the older Winchester sitting across from him. It was so quiet Sam thought he wouldn't answer, but he would find out that Dean was just reliving memories.
"We were in a hotel room, on the run as usual, this time was different."
With a sigh Sam got up and grabbed the bottle of Jack out the cabinet, this was going to be a long conversation and he figured booze was appropriate. Pouring them both a healthy dose of the dark liquor, Sam put the bottle down and gripped his glass. Instead of continuing on with the story, Dean looked at the modestly decorated living room. Taking in the map with various images tacked in different places, the string that connected the cases; probably noting that each case had their own color. Dean smiled at the weapons corner, it was a place to store and clean his various tools of his trade.
Next Dean noticed the pictures, the kind that help make a house a home. There were a few of him and the people he has helped in the last two years, then there were the other more sentimental ones. The one of him and Lexi at Mardi Gras, Sam was drunk as a skunk in that was. A little laugh escaped at the memory, from what he could remember Lexi was just as drunk.
It was then Sam noticed Dean was staring at a picture of him and Caroline, they were on motorcycles the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. They had gone with the club on the big ride, Sam remembers that it been hot that day. So they had taken a pit stop.
"She was hot, sweaty and hungry when that picture was taken. She had also recently gotten into taking photos, so she bullied me into the tongue sticking out face."
"Don't forget the peace sign Sammy, she always could get you to do whatever she wanted."
"Yeah," Sam grumbled, "she still can."
Caroline tried her tarot card first, that didn't work she would know she tried all 4 of them. So she moved on to her pendulum, that was a bit fat not gonna happen. Her next move was to try and read the bones, again got a big nope. Sighing she made herself focus, she wasn't going to let this get her down, just because this was the first time it had happened to her in like forever. She liked to try other avenues before jumping into trance work, but it looks like she wasn't getting anywhere with these methods.
So putting away the tools of her trade, she gathered a handful of mugwort, sage and nutmeg. Walking over to the large fireplace with a roaring fire, she tossed the herbs into the fire. As smoke filled the room she focused on her breathing as she inhaled and exhaled, breathing in the aromatics. Her body began to sway, cotton nightgown swishing against her knees. Transporting herself to the rainbow bridge, her body dropped lifeless as the great Heimdhal greeted her.
Knowing all this, Sam was hoping Dean would be more forthcoming and maybe they would have if they had not been interrupted. Just as Dean was about to say something, Sam's front door was kicked in. It all happened really fast, so fast that Sam knew without a doubt who had broken into his home. His trail would come early, he knew it would, but he had hoped he had more time. The fact that Sam and Dan were being shoved into a car could only mean one thing, boss man was back into town and he had heard about the danger he had put Caroline in.
The wall of Asgard loomed large ahead of her and it made her think of all the things that her predecessors had thought, were they afraid? Or just merely curious to what lay ahead? She was the latter, this was her first trip to Asgard, the first time she had taken the direct route. Usually when doing this type of work she went to see the Norns, now she had no clue where she was supposed to go. She was however supposed to be here, because the guards let her by without so much as a glance.